Words of two syllables never have more than one of them accented, except for the sake of peculiar emphasis. Gentlemen, however, whose profession it is to drive certain public vehicles called cabs, are much accustomed to disregard this rule, and to say, “pó-líte” (or “púr-líte”), “gén-téel,” “cón-cérn,” “pó-líce,” and so on: nay, they go so far as to convert a word of one syllable into two, for the sake of indulging in this style of pronunciation; and thus the word “queer” is pronounced by them as “ké-véer.”
The word “á-mén,” when standing alone, should be pronounced with two accents.
The accents in which it usually _is_ pronounced are very inelegant. Clerks, now-a-days, alas! are no scholars.
Dissyllables, formed by adding a termination, usually have the former syllable accented: as, “Fóolish, blóckhead,” &c.
The accent in dissyllables, formed by prefixing a syllable to the radical word, is commonly on the latter syllable: as, “I protést, I decláre, I entréat, I adóre, I expíre.”
Protestations, declarations, entreaties, and adorations, proclaim a swain to be simply tender; but _expiration_ (for love) proves him to be decidedly soft.
A man who turns lover becomes a _protest_-ant; and his conduct at the same time generally undergoes a _reformation_, especially if he has previously been a rake.
The zeal, however, of a reformed rake, like that of Jack in Dean Swift’s “Tale of a Tub,” is sometimes apt to outrun his discretion.
When the same word, being a dissyllable, is both a noun and a verb, the verb has mostly the accent on the latter, and the noun on the former syllable: as,
“Molly, let Hymen’s gentle hand Cemént our hearts together, With such a cément as shall stand In spite of wind and weather.
“I do preságe--and oft a fact A présage doth foretoken-- Our mutual love shall ne’er contráct, Our cóntract ne’er be broken.”
There are many exceptions to the rule just enunciated (so that, correctly as well as familiarly speaking, it is perhaps _no_ rule); for though verbs seldom have an accent on the former, yet nouns frequently have it on the latter syllable: as,
“Mary Anne is my delíght Both by day and eke by night; For by day her soft contról Soothes my heart and calms my soul; And her image while I doze Comes to sweeten my repóse; Fortune favouring my desígn, Please the pigs she shall be mine!”